Rail-anchor.



W. A. WALKER.

RAIL ANCHOR. APPLICATION FILED 00121, 1909.

963,097.; Patented July 5,1910.

1 To all whom it may concern:

WILLIAM A; WALKER, or nacrnn, WISCONSIN, assronon To care a. manner, or

GHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAIL-ANCHGE.

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. WALKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Racine, inthe county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Anchors, of

which the following is a specification.

' My invention relates to a rail anchor, sometimes called a rail-stay oranti-creeper, of the type which provides two relatively movable jaws,one on each side of the rail, the lateral grip of which jaws on the railis increased by the tendency of the rail to creep, so that such tendencyis checked thereby; and the invention has for its object to provide anew and improved construction for a rail anchor of this sort whichincludes simple and cilectivc means for preventing the rail anchor frombecoming loose on the rail, either because of the vibration of therailor its tendency to rebound or react in the direction opposite tothat of the trains after the latter have passed over the rails,

or from other causes.

The invention in a preferred embodiment isillnstratcd in theaccompanying drawings, wherein.- p I Figure 1 is a perspective view ofthe rail anchor of my invention .in position on the rail. Fig. 2 a planview of the same. Fig. 3 a front elevation of the same showing the railin section, and Fig. i a section taken on line et4 of Fig. 2, looking-inthe direction of the arrows.

Likecharacters of reference indicate like .mrts in theseveral figures of't-hedrawings. Referring to the drawings, A represents a rail having thebase or flanges B; and C, one of the cross ties upon which the railrests.

The rail stay consists of a tie abutting mcm-' ber l), preferably formedat one end with the depending flange (Z, and two ]LW members E and Fwhich are pivotedto the enlarged end G of the tieeabntting member. Theyaw members E and F are provided with thejaws H and I respectively,which -;extend around the opposite edges of the rail base 13 and may beof any preferred form andconstruction. The pivotal connections betweenthe tie-abutting member and the members E andl? may be made in anydesired manner, For example, I have shown Specification of LettersYatent.

- Application filed October 21, 1969.

Patented July 5,1910. Serial No. 523,878.

the members E and F formed with the studs J and K respectively, whichextend through openings in the enlarged end G of the'tieabutting memberand are riveted over at j, 7:, respectively, on the washers L and M.

With a device so constructed and with the travel of the trains in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, the creeping of. the rail inthe manner which. is well under stood, and in the direction indicated bythe arrow, will cause the tie-abutting member D to be pressed tightlyagainst the vertical face of the tie. The jaws H, I will be drawntightly toward each other as'a result and will be caused to tightly gripthe rail so that the greater the tendency of the rail to creep,the-tighter will be the grip olthe jaws. The device will thus beefficient so long as the tie-abutting member D is tightly pressedagainst the tie, but as is well known in this art, various influences,such for example, as the contraction of the rail under low temeratures,will tend to move the rail slightly 111 a direction opposite to thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, and a very slight movementof the rail in this direction will carry the tic-abutting member D awayfrom the tie, and consequently will release the grip of the jaws H and Iupon the rail to such an extentthat the vibration of a passing train orother causes may readily displace the anti-creeper unless some means areprovided for holding the jaws in gripping ngagenient with the rail whenthe pressure upon tie-abutting member D is released. Various devices inthe way of separate springs and ratchet teeth have been suggested buthave proven unsatisfactory because of the multiplii'ration of parts andthe liability to break or to have their operation interfered with bydirt, rust, cinders or the like,'and it is also understood in this artthat for practical purposes it is highly desirable that an anti-creepershall be completely assembled when shippedand of such a character thatnone of the parts will become separated, and there can'be no loss orwrong assembling of parts.

To rovidc means for preventing an unloosening or unclamping movement ofthe jaws of the anchor, I provide the jaw member F with an extension Nhaving a tooth 0 larly formed with the vertical faces p and v theoblique faces p. This allows a relative movement between thetie-abutting member D and the extension N in the direction which gives acloser grip or clamp between the jaws H and I and the rail base B, whilepreventing movement in the opposite direction.

To facilitate the above action as well as to permit the detachment ofthe anti-creeper when desired, there is such a loose fit about the pivotK that the tooth-carrying arm N will have a sufiicient degree ofvertical play to permit the tooth on the arm end either to be inengagement with the ratch teeth P or to be lifted out of engagementtherewith when the device is assembled and clamped upon the rail. Asshown in Fig. 1, the tooth O will be in engagement with the ratch teethP and as there is no substantial strain upon the tooth O or the ratchteeth P, the vibration of the rail will not disengage them, but anysuitable implement inserted between the tooth-figuring arm N and thebody of the member I) can pry the said arm and member apart sutlicientlyto disengage the tooth 0 from the teeth I and thus permit of the removalof the device from the rail. It will thus be seen that I provide anautomatic take-up which will not be accidentally disengaged but whichcan be manually disengaged whenever desired, and which avoids the use ofseparate springs and ratchet de vices.

The operation of the device is as follows: The anchor is adjusted to therail so that tho tie-abutting member lies diagonally relative to therail and a tight grip between the jaws and the rail base is effected byhammering or forcing jaw I toward the tie, the tooth O traveling overthe teeth I on the upper surface of the jaw member. Obviously, thetendency of'the rail to creep forward is checked because the forwardmovement of the rail, and the consequent turning of the jaw members Eand l! on their pivots, causes the jaws H and I to approach each other.

- The grip of the anchor on the rail forces the ()XlZQIlSlOIl N againstthe tie-abutting member D- and prevents looseness as between the tooth Oand the ratchet. The construction of the teeth I of the ratchet and thetooth O on the extension N prevent any relative movement between the jawmember F and the tie-abutting member D in the direction of unclamping.The jaw member F and its extension N form in effect a lever having onone end a rail-gripping jaw and on the other means foi anchor.

I do not limit myself to the exact devices and constructions shown anddescribed as modifications may be devised which would come within thescope of my invention.

I claim:

l. A rail anchor comprising two members pivoted together and providedwith railengaging jaws, one of said members formed with a ratch and theother with a tooth which engages the ratch so as to prevent. relativemovement between the members in the direction of unclamping.

' 2. A rail anchor comprising two members pivoted one upon the other andprovided with rail-engaging jaws, one of said members formed with aratch on the surface in contact with theother member, and the othermember with a tooth which engages said ratch so as to prevent relativemovement between the members in the direction of unclamping. i

3. A rail anchor comprising two members pivoted one upon the other andprovided with rail-engaging jaws, one of said members formed with aratch on the surface in contact with the other member, and the othermember with a tooth which engages-said ratch so as to prevent relativemovement between the members in the direction of nnclamping, saidmembers lying against the under surface of the rail for the purposedescribed.

4. A rail anchor comprising two members pivoted together, one memberbein rovided with a rigid jaw and the other with a jaw pivoted thereto,and one of said members being formed with a ratch and the other with atooth which engages the ratch preventing the-unclamping of the 'so as toprevent relative movement between the members in the direction ofunclamping. 5. A red anchor comprising two members pivoted together, ajaw ivoted to one of said members, the other or said members beingformed with a rigid jaw at one side of the pivotal connection betweenthe jaws, and with means on the other side of said pivotal connectionwhich engages said other momher so as to prevent relative movementbetween the members in the direction efibe unclamping.

'6 A rail an'chor comprising two members pivoted together, a jawconnected with one of said members, the other of said members beingformed with a rigid jaw at one side of the pivotal connection betweenthe jaws,

and with means on the other side of said pivotal connection whichengages said other fmember so as to prevent relative movement betweenthe members in the direction of unclamping.

7. A rail anchor comprising a tie-abutting member provided with a jaw,and a lever tive movement between said member and.

the lever in the direction ofunclamping.

8. A rail anchor comprising a tie-abutting member provided with a jawpivoted-ther to, and a lever formed'with an integral jaw on one end andwith means-on the other end which engages the tie-abutting member so'asto prevent relative movement between said member and the lever in thedirection of unclamping.

9. A rail anchorcomprising a tie-abutting member provided with a jawpivoted thereto, a lever formed with anintegraljaw' on one end, andmeans which prevents relative movement between said member and the leverin the direction of unclamping consisting of a tooth onone .of saidmembers 'tegral with said members, which means by their engagement witheach other prevent the relative movement of the members in the directionof unclampirig. i

13. A rail anchor comprising two mem bers having rotatable relation withrespect to each other and provided with rail gripping jaws, one of saidmembers being provided with a tie-abutment; and an integral 50 toothronone of said members and a series of integral teeth on theother of saidmembers which are engaged by said single tooth so as to prevent therelative movement of the members in the direction of unclamping.

. 14. A rail. anchor comprising two members having rotatable relationwith respect to each other and provided with rail grip:

ping jaws, one of said members being provided with a tie abutment, andmeans in-. 6 0;;

tegral with said members, which means by i and a ratch on the other.

10. A rail anchor comprising a tie-ahutthe relative movementof themembers in their engagement with'ea'ch other prevent--" tin member, twojaw-carrying members piv-v ote of said jaw-carrying members whichengages the tie-abutting member so asto prevent relative movement of thesame in the direction of unclamping.

all. A rail anchor 'comprisin meansfl'for abutting" against a tie, meansor engaging the rail on one side thereof, and a lever pro-- vided at oneend with means for engaging the rail on the other side thereof, and onthe other end with means for locking said lever frommovement in thedirectlon of unclamping. i

12. A rail anchor comprising two mem bers having rotatable relation withrespect to each other and provided with rail grip.- ping jaws,one ofsaid members being provided with a tie abutment, and; means into thesame, and an extension on onedirection of unclamping, said member'sbeging loosely connected, for the ur se.- v

" 15. A" rail anchor comprising tee-113ml bers pivoted together, a jawconnected with one of said members, the other of said members beinformed with a'rigid aw, at one-310 pivotal connection between the sideof t e jaws, and with means on the other side of saidpivotal'eonneotion'which engages said other member .so as to preventrelative move ment between the members in the direction 7 -'-ofunclamping; the p1votal] ;connection be-

